When wealthy Russian investors contract L.A. psychologist Joel Fischer to develop a device to manipulate minds, the Dreemweever exceeds all expectations. Everything is on track for delivery and a big payday, until two adventurous stoners steal his Dodge Challenger that, unknown to them, contains the Dreemweever in its trunk. Fischer and his crew have two days to get it back or he dies.

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Contagion: No Antidote For This Piece Of...

Took the kids to see Contagion at Chunky's this weekend. It's one of those places where you sit in comfortable, leather chairs that came from big SUV's, order food from the pub style menu, and watch the show. Let's just say the meal was the best part of the experience, and the food ain't that great.

I was sceptical before I even went. I'm not a big fan of this genre- The Stand and The Andromeda Strain set the bar so high, for me at least, all else are also rans.

My biggest gripe, was the horrendous acting from this A-list cast, most of which I normally dig. Even Matt Damon, a Boston homeboy, gives a pathetic, emotionless performance. Same goes for Winslet, Paltrow, and even, dare I say, Fishburne (that hurts). But, it is Jude Law who really stinks it out. I do owe him some kudos because, I spent most of the movie, wondering what hat, or hoodie he was going to be wearing next to hide his hair loss. My patience was rewarded with a big reveal at the end, and it ain't pretty. I swear this was actually part of the script.

The film style was very reminiscent of Saw, as were the only for shock value blood, snot, vomit, foaming at the mouth scenes. I do give the actors credit for allowing themselves to be filmed very closeup, in all their "natural" glory. I didn't know Winslet and Paltrow were in it, and it took a while for me to recognize them.

Taking a queue from the Saw franchise and the most recent Planet of the Apes movie (which I did like) there is the big ending scene that answers the questions, and fortunatley, provided me the chance to leave the theater (like I was the one fleeing a pandemic)

The night was not a total loss. When we got home, Lord of the Flies was on. Which got me to thinking...If any down and out fly extra's are reading this, I highly recommend Contagion as a five-star feast.

6 comments:

You nailed it. Very poor acting, especially Matt Damon - emotionless. Who needs a wife and child anyway, and when two gunmen go blowing people up in the house next door, just shut the curtains. Everything will be fine.

The middle and the end was terribly predictable. That is the problem with these apocalyptic-type movies - there is nothing new.

Although the cast looks amazing, I never wanted to watch it from the beginning because it just never looked very good. I think I'll save my money. We have theaters like the one you talked about, that's the only ones I go to.

Wow, I'm seriously disappointed. The trailer did a decent enough job on the tension, and I figured that Soderbergh would've done a fantastic job. I DVR'd "Out Of Sight" for The Teen to watch tonight and he loved it. Oh, how the might have fallen.